The Tired Witch
by LovelyLovelyLove
Summary: Writing prompt: "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" "I'm a tired witch."


**I think I'm going to start writing one-shots based off of prompts whenever the mood strikes. I feel that it's a good way to take a break from my usual stories, kind of like taking a quick breather from thinking about them so much. That and it seems like a good way to expand my creative abilities and see what I can come up with.**

 **So, without further ado-**

 **Writing prompt:**

" **Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"**

" **I'm a tired witch."**

After what felt like eons of walking, when it was really only about six blocks, Gray finally reached the little café where he was meeting up with his friends. He pushed open the door, the ringing of a bell alerting employees that another customer had arrived, and walked inside.

Brushing the snow off of his thin sweater, the raven-haired man scoped out the place, searching for the usually easy to spot head of pink hair.

He found him, and the rest of them, easy enough, seeing as their group seemed to be the only customers there this time of night.

"Took you long enough, ice freak. You're like twenty minutes late, but you only live a few blocks away." His childhood, and annoying as all hell, friend Natsu exclaimed the second he plopped down at their table.

Gray scoffed and kicked him under the table. "Well excuse me for wanting to be a decent human being and help Ur with the dishes, flame ass."

"Are you two fighting?" A commanding female voice questioned threateningly.

He and Natsu laughed nervously, fist-bumping each other with shaky hands. "N-no, Erza. Not at all."

"Yeah, we're…best of friends." Natsu choked out.

The redhead smiled and nodded in satisfaction, and the rest of the table rolled their eyes.

Their group contained Erza, Natsu, Lisanna, Gajeel, Levy, Jellal, and himself. They had all grown up together after becoming fast friends shortly after Gray had moved there.

"And honestly, Gray. Where is your jacket? I understand that you're _immune_ to the cold, but would it kill you to at least wear a hat or something?" Erza chided, eyes his attire with clear distaste.

He swallowed hard, resisting the urge to roll his eyes and nodded. "Maybe next time."

Before Gray moved to Magnolia, Fiore he had lived in a country called Iceberg.

Just as the name implied, it was a frigid country. Summers there were colder than it was here in the middle of December.

The bell to the door dinged, catching his attention as a petite blonde entered the café, rubbing her bare fingers together to create warmth.

Her complexion was almost as pale as is own, making the bags under her tired brown eyes seem so much darker.

His eyes followed her as she walked to the counter, tuning out the bickering of his friends, and watching as she ordering something he couldn't quite make out from Mira- the owner of the place.

He felt drawn to her, somehow. Like he couldn't bear to rip his gaze from her. Now, Gray was not unfamiliar to the opposite sex. Not in the least. And this woman was beautiful, strikingly so. He just couldn't look away.

As she was waiting for her order, he watched her glance around the small café, brown eyes flitting over the many framed photographs on the walls.

She blinked as she caught him watching her, offering him a shy smile and a small wave.

He smirked, nodding his head in acknowledgement, still watching as she paid for her beverage and took a seat at the table next to theirs.

Gray was oblivious to the odd looks he was receiving from his friends, to their presence really, until Lisanna's voice broke his trance.

"She looks really familiar." She mused aloud.

Natsu scratched his head thoughtfully, squinting his eyes at her. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I swear I've seen her before."

"I think I've seen her at the library a few times." The tiny librarian piped in from where she was leaning against her heavily pierced boyfriend.

The whole group shamelessly stared at the blonde as she removed her black pea-coat, revealing her baby pink scrubs.

"Ooooh, yeah! Now I remember. She stitched me up that one time I jumped through my bedroom window and got that big cut on my neck!" Natsu cried.

Lisanna face-palmed, no doubt remembering the incident since she'd been there in his yard waiting for the aftermath of her boyfriend's stupidity. He'd been saying for weeks that he could make the jump and land on his feet, and wanted to prove everyone wrong. She'd had her keys in one hand, and 9-1-1 dialed and ready to go in the other, just in case she had to drive him to the hospital or call an ambulance.

It was safe to assume that he'd failed, landing oddly on a thick branch that could have very easily impaled him, but got lucky.

At the sound of his exclamation, the blonde raised her head in their direction, jumping in shock when she found the entire table looking at her.

Her face flushed an adorable pink. "U-um. Can I help you?"

Gray smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that. The village idiot over here just recognized you from the hospital. You stitched up his neck."

The blonde nurse looked at the man he was pointing too and relaxed. "Oh! Yes I remember. It's kind of hard to forget the first guy I've ever seen with pink hair." She giggled.

The entire table laughed as Natsu huffed. "It's salmon!" And Gray decided he really liked her already.

"Gray." He informed her, reaching out to extend his hand.

"Lucy." She replied, smiling shyly as they shook hands.

Just as he opened his mouth to introduce the rest of his friends, the door was pushed open so hard that it bounced off of the wall, leaving a gaping hole from the doorknob.

All heads turned to the small group of men dressed in dark clothing, approaching Mira at the register while waving a gun in his hands.

"Nobody move! Hand over all of the cash in the register and in the safe. Do it quickly and quietly if you know what's good for ya." The man who seemed to be their leader barked harshly, aiming his weapon at a trembling Mira and throwing her a large garbage bag.

The rest of them, four other guys, aimed their guns at the employees and at their table.

"P-please, you don't h-have to d-do this. This place i-is all I have and-" The man holding the gun at her cut off her pleading by cocking the weapon.

"I said quietly!"

Gray sat, stiff in his seat, desperately wracking his brain for a way to help the situation. He could hear Lisanna's quiet sobs from Natsu's protective embrace, fear for her older sister evident on her face.

He glanced at the blonde he had just been talking to, doing a double take when he saw the expression on her face.

She didn't seem afraid, or even remotely concerned. From what he could tell, she looked as though she was debating over something in her head.

He watched as she glanced around the café, empty except for them, the few employees on today's schedule, and the armed thieves.

"This is outrageous! Who do you think you are? Leave immediately or we will call the police!" Evergreen, a barista as well as Mira's sister-in-law, shouted.

It felt like time slowed down as the leader aimed his gun at Ever and pulled the trigger.

Gray barely hear the gunshot, or everyone's shocked cries, over the sound of his own blood roaring in his ears.

One sound did get through to them, it was barely a whisper but somehow that one word was packed with so much _power_ , it broke through all sound and reached his ears.

"Reflect."

To his amazement, the air in front of Ever rippled as the bullet bounced off of it, sending it up into the ceiling and leaving the barista unharmed.

"What?! What was that?" The leader cried in outrage.

Everyone went stock still, even Mira stopped putting money in the garbage bag to gape at Evergreen in surprise and relief. Ever herself was pale, panting heavily and clutching at her chest.

"I think you need to leave."

Gray gasped as the blonde next to him rose to her feet, taking a few steps toward the group of criminals.

"Lucy! Sit down." He whispered urgently, trying to grab her arm and pull her behind him, but she took another step out of his reach and ignored him.

The leader seethed, moving to point his gun at the blonde, and Gray's heart plunged to his stomach.

"And I think you better sit down and shut up, bitch." He hissed.

Lucy sighed. "Last chance."

The man pulled the trigger, and before Gray could grab her, she waved her hand lazily in front of her.

"Reflect."

The bullet once again bounced off of rippling air, leaving her unharmed.

In fact, she just yawned.

Gray sat there, dumbfounded. Suddenly finding himself questioning everything he thought he knew about the world around him, he had so many questions.

Everyone watched with wide eyes as the small blonde raised her arm in a high arc above her head, then throwing it down and slashing her hand through the air in front of her.

"Bind!"

Brilliant white circles appeared under every armed robber's feet, before ropes slithered from the ground, winding around their bodies so tightly that they were forced to drop their weapons as they fell to the ground.

"What the hell are you, freak?! Some kind of wizard?" One of the men shouted in rage.

The blonde crossed her arms under her bust and cocked her hip. "Do I look like a man?! I'm a witch!"

She turned and faced Gray, who was standing behind her, still gaping at her display. "Do I look like a man?"

And then he fainted.

}{}{}{

When he came to, the thugs were gone and he was laying down on the floor.

Rubbing the back of his head, he sat up slowly and looked around.

His friends were sitting at the same table chatting quietly, while Lucy was hugging Mira and Lisanna by the counter.

He stood shakily, and dropped himself into is earlier seat right as the small blonde approached them.

Everyone stopped talking and faced her.

She fidgeted with her hands nervously, looking so much more exhausted than she had before. "So…"

"Why don't you sit down?" Jellal asked, and when she made no move to comply, he glanced at Gajeel.

The heavily pierced man rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself as he stood and grabbed another chair, pulling it up to the open space between Gray and Natsu.

"Don't understand why ya couldn't get her a chair when you're the one who offered her a seat." The mechanic complained as he took his place back beside his tiny girlfriend.

He went ignored as the group watched the blonde gingerly take a seat, slumping over slightly to rest her chin against her hand.

They were all quiet for a moment. Gray had so many questions. They all did, really.

Magic was real? What else could she do? How many witches and wizards were out there?

Unfortunately, Natsu was the one who broke the silence first.

"So…are you a good witch or a bad witch?" He asked curiously, causing the majority of the table to face-palm.

Lucy snorted. "Honestly? A tired witch. I just got off of a thirty-six hour shift at the hospital, and then used my magic." She sighed wearily. "I need a nap."

Despite the situation, Gray chuckled quietly along with a few others at the table.

Natsu looked confused at their laughter. "But does that make you a good witch or a bad witch?"

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, you were serious? Well, I never use my magic to harm or anything, so I guess that makes me a good witch."

"Oh, ok." The pinkette nodded with a grin, before turning to his friends. "So, for the game this weekend I was thinking we all bring some food and-"

"Wait, that's all?" Lucy asked in surprise. "You guys are ok with this?"

"What, did you think we'd burn you at the stake or something?" Gray asked, nudging her playfully.

The glare he received from her would've put him six feet under if looks could kill.

A thick book came out of nowhere and smacked him upside the head.

"That was the stupidest thing you could've said, you moron!" Levy screeched at him from across the table. "You don't joke about the Salem Witch Trials to an actual witch!"

The blonde relaxed and laughed at them as they all began to argue over what would _actually_ be the stupidest thing someone could've said to her.

The topics ranged from warts, pointy hats, brooms, and every stereotypical thing they could think of.

But she didn't mind. The group in front of her had to be the least judgmental and most accepting people she had ever met.

So Lucy just smiled as she leaned back in her seat, nearly falling asleep and not even noticing as the raven haired man beside her guided her head to his shoulder.

He smiled down at her as she dozed off, and couldn't be more thankful that she had been here today.

Who know what would've happened, who could've gotten hurt or worse, if she hadn't intervened.

Gray watched his friends argue with an amused grin, wrapping his arm around Lucy's shoulders when she started to slip.

He just knew, somehow, that she was going to fit in just fine. And maybe, hopefully, change his life for the better.

 **I literally wrote this in one sitting. It took like two hours, mostly because my children were having contests to see who could be the loudest.**

 **The younger twin won, if you were wondering.**

 **And for some reason, I'm more nervous than usual that this completely sucks. But I'm going to post it anyway, because well…just because.**

 **Let me know what you think, if it sucks or not.**

 **I got my big girl panties on so I can take it.**


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